Aunt Josephine's Fresh Pear Cake

"This dense, moist, creamy-sweet pear cake was the signature dessert of my great-great aunts, Beth and Josephine. It was lost for several years. During that time we tried several different pear cake recipes, but none came close to this one. Now that it has been found again (and slightly updated), I want to share it with all of you, so that everyone can enjoy it!
With love,
Sarah."

Beat sugar and grapeseed oil together in a separate bowl until creamy; stir in eggs. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture; add pears. Blend batter with an electric mixer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Fold pecans into the batter and mix by hand until batter is well blended, about 2 more minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Loosen cake from pan by gently running the edge of a knife between cake and pan; let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Place a cake plate upside-down atop cake and flip pan to turn cake onto plate.

This cake was wonderfully moist and baked up just perfect, which is hard to do where I live (altitude = 7000). So happy to find something delicious to make with the Bartlett pears in my Bountiful Basket. The texture and spices were just right. I didn't have the grapeseed oil so I had to use vegetable oil and it turned out beautifully.

This is a nice, mildly sweet cake, with a nice moist texture more like old-fashioned spice cake. The pear flavor doesn't stand out, however, and I disregarded the instructions to mix and mix for 3 minutes after adding the flour. Also, if you're "creaming" turbinado and grapeseed oil, you can stop wasting your time...oil and sugar with this texture will never cream. Beating has no effect whatsoever. I'd give the cake a 4-5 stars, but the instructions about a 3.

It was delightfully yummy and moist. I also layered leftover pear slices at the bottom of the pan to give an upside down cake look. Not very sweet which we liked. I divided the sugar and soaked the pears in one half for 20 mins.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.